The oil and gas industry has greatly benefited from the use of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, which increase the production of underperforming or problematic wells and fields. Many EOR processes are based on chemical induced well stimulation and may include one or more of (1) chemicals capable of inducing reservoir fractures and creating new or additional hydrocarbon flow channels for moving oil from a formation into a wellbore; (2) chemicals capable of dissolving portions of the reservoir formation and creating alternative flow paths for hydrocarbons; and (3) chemicals capable of enhancing the flow of liquid hydrocarbons such as oil from a reservoir formation into the wellbore.
Surfactants are a commercially important class of compounds capable of reducing the surface tension at liquid-liquid or liquid-solid interfaces. The amphiphillic composition of surfactants allows for their utilization as detergents, emulsifiers, dispersants, foaming agent, wetting agents and anti-coalescents. In the oil and gas industry, surfactants have been used in attempts to increase the conductivity or flow of liquid hydrocarbons in subterranean reservoirs for enhancing oil recovery, e.g. following water flooding and/or steam flooding of a subterranean hydrocarbon bearing reservoir.
However, the use of techniques such as steam flooding can induce gravity override in the subterranean hydrocarbon bearing reservoir. The reservoir heterogeneity generated by primary recovery techniques such as steam flooding is a well-established challenge in the oil and gas industry, particularly for commercial entities involved in crude oil production and related downstream applications. In addition, the presence of thief zones, formational fractures, high permeability streaks and related geological formations within subterranean hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs are continuing challenges in primary oil recovery and EOR operations.